


Doubt That the Sun Doth Move

by linatrinch



Series: Hamlet [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Bodyguard!Finn, M/M, Prince!Poe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:31:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7036867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linatrinch/pseuds/linatrinch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two months have passed since the First Order invaded the country. While the people try to rebuild and move on, Kylo Ren remains missing and at large. The entire nation collectively holds their breath, awaiting the day that their Prince will finally take his rightful throne. But Poe Dameron is left with choosing duties thrust upon him for his country or the life he can almost imagine with his most trusted and loyal guard, Finn. With so much power hanging in the balance, the choice may very well be made for him.</p><p>Sequel to Doubt Thou the Stars Are Fire</p><p>DISCONTINUED</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read part one, here's the low down. Here thar be spoilers. Luke was king and his bodyguard was Kes. Kes and Shara were in love, but it was kind of odd for the bodyguard to be dating since he's supposed to be oh so loyal and shit, so Luke pretended to date Shara so that she and Kes could hang out more. The country was invaded and Kes was killed. Luke was also believed to be killed, but he just fled instead. Turned out Shara was pregnant with Poe and told the people that he was Luke's son. A few years later, Leia (now Queen) finally has a kid with Han, the head of security and leader of the Royal Guard. This produces Ben. They decide that when Ben is old enough, Poe will take the crown for a hot second and quickly hand it over to Ben, who is actually the rightful heir anyway. Ben gets paranoid and ditches, leaving Poe to be heir even though he isn't. (Shara's already dead by this point. Cancer stuff.) Fast forward to an assassination attempt and the start of part one. Enter Finn, Poe's new bodyguard. They fall in love, everything's cute, Poe tells him the truth about who he is, Ben tries to take the palace back by force, kills Han, Finn kills Hux, everyone's freaking out, Poe leads an army to take back the kingdom, Snap dies, Phasma dies, Ben didn't die, Luke came back, Luke left again, Rey and Poe vs Darth Fucking Maul, Finn saves the day, Poe is a depressed fuck. The end.
> 
> Honestly, it's much better than it sounds.

“ _Two months have passed since the unforgettable attack orchestrated by the First Order on the palace and royal family. During the incredible movement to take back the crown, which was a strike planned and led by our own Prince Poe Dameron, many of the primary targets were reportedly killed or captured by our government. However, it's become clear in the public eye that their notorious leader, Kylo Ren, did in fact live and escape justice. Whether the rumors of His Highness Prince Poe fighting in a sword duel with the First Order's leader is to be believed or not, the fact is Ren is alive and missing. Now, two months later, no information has surfaced about this leader, not even a motive for the initial attack since his army was too small to take the entire country. Either the royal family knows nothing, or they are not telling us anything. Despite his participation in the fighting, the Prince has only just recently appeared again in the public eye though never without at least one member of the Royal Guard nearby. The palace continues to act as if there is a war in our streets if their sheltering of the Prince is any indication. Putting all of this into perspective, it is to be believed that we are still not safe, that the palace is keeping certain truths to themselves to prevent riots spawned by fear, and that they are attempting to be no more controlling than the very monsters who-”_

“You can stop, Rey,” Finn waved his hand from beside her. “He's not listening.”

“I am listening,” Poe grumbled from his place, hand on a ridiculously ornate chair and dressed in one of his better looking suits, staring at the camera and definitely not listening. “You make it sound bad when you say it like that.”

Finn and Rey stood behind the camera crew, the latter glancing away from the article on her phone and the former giving his Prince a tired stare. “What did she say?” Finn tested just because he could.

Poe shifted, his fingers drumming on the chair's wood frame. “First Order, Kylo Ren-... Me, I think?”

Finn rolled his eyes, patting the young woman on the arm. “You can go back, Rey. Thanks, though. I'll make him read it later.”

“It's just one idiot,” she sighed, trying to be low enough so only the two of them could hear. “It's not a big deal. If anything, this voice is one of the smaller ones.”

Finn shook his head. “Still a voice. We'll deal with it.”

She pierced her lips into a thin line, nodded, and turned to leave the hallway of the eastern end of the palace that they've commandeered for the shoot. He could tell she didn't really agree with him, and it wasn't like Finn planned to send a team out to hog tie the reporter or anything, but it was always best to nip it at the source. And maybe he was being overprotective and maybe that had consequences on more people than he cared to admit, but nothing was getting anywhere near his Prince. If this whole thing wasn't an obsession before-

Finn took a deep breath, turning back to find Poe sagging and hanging his head, the photographer clearly wanting to snap at him for moving around _again_. “Poe-”

“You don't have to deal with everything, you know,” his Prince commented, then pointed between himself and the photographer, “Can we take a break?”

At first the crew had been nothing but polite and generous, but Poe and the cameraman had started clashing due to the Prince being a little shit the entire time. “Again, your Highness?”

Unfortunately, that's exactly how Poe liked to be treated. Like an annoying human being rather than some God-like figure. That's why he smiled and planted himself down in the plush purple chair. “Yep.”

The photographer looked like he was about to have a stroke from the action, but Finn stepped forward to defend him, carefully scaling over the wires. “Do you have any idea how much that chair costs, Poe?”

“I'm the Prince,” the other retorted. “Pretty sure my ass is worth more.”

There was a _great_ comment to that on the tip of Finn's tongue, but he groaned instead, stopping beside his Prince. “You act like my handling of these situations is something reckless and stupid.”

“I don't know if I'd call it reckless,” Poe said, rubbing at one eye.

Finn ignored him. “It's just an interview. Eye for an eye and all that. You were all for it yesterday.”

“I _love_ the idea of an interview,” the other answered, finally blinking up to him with a small grin. “ _This_ is the stupid part. I know I'm handsome, but does everyone have to know?”

“You'd think the people have never seen your face before,” Finn muttered, glancing out the window and to the sprawling lawns outside.

Poe unsurprisingly laughed, and the guard already knew why. “ _You_ didn't know who I was when we met.”

“I think we've fixed that,” Finn smirked, daring to look down to his Prince with soft eyes in front of these strangers. “It's just a couple of pictures. Boosting the public image. If you're good, I've got a surprise set up for you after.” Poe's eyes twinkled, his smile turning mischievous, and Finn had to turn his words back around. “Not what you're thinking,” he chuckled, unable to keep it in. “You'll like it, though. I promise. More publicity stuff.”

“Publicity stuff,” Poe gave a half-hearted grumble while looking away, but quickly turned back to him, suddenly tugging on the guard's blazer. “Take a picture with me.”

“Wh-What? No.” A big smile betrayed him, but Finn was pretty adamant in his answer. “No, Poe. I'm not taking a picture.”

“ _Please?”_ Poe tried his big doe eyes on Finn for a second, then looked to the photographer. “He's my bodyguard. Can he be in a picture?”

“Poe, no.”

“Honestly, your Highness,” the older man sighed, rubbing at his eyes beneath his glasses, “I'm willing do anything if it means you'll stand still for more than two minutes.”

Poe straightened up. “Can we get a pizza?”

“No, Poe! No,” Finn scolded, carefully loosening his Prince's grip finger by finger. “You take your picture and do Prince stuff, and I'm going to go do guard stuff-”

“C'mon, Finn,” the other pleaded again, going right back to their other topic. “Just one picture and I'll stop pestering. I promise.”

“I'm not even supposed to be involved in this interview stuff.”

“So? Just one. Just one. Just _one_ , c'mon, please.”

Finn groaned, shifting until he was closer to the chair and finally managing to untangle his arm from Poe's grasp. “You are so spoiled,” he muttered, nodding to the photographer.

The Prince sat up a little straighter in the chair, crossing his legs and actually giving a sincere smile for the camera rather than the dowering stare he'd been doing all day. “It's your fault for spoiling me.”

“Stop,” Finn swatted at Poe's shoulder, absolutely refusing to blush and placing his hand on the back of the chair just like the other had done a moment ago. “This okay?”

“Perfect,” the photographer smirked with a thumbs up, going back to his camera. “Just stay like that for _two seconds_ , your Highness, please.”

“I'm not moving,” Poe happily replied. “Maybe this one can go on the cover.”

Finn grumbled, “Or maybe this one can never see the light of day.”

“You love it,” his Prince laughed before settling in place again. And yeah, Finn kind of loved it a little.

* * *

“More pictures?” Poe whined. “I thought you said I'd _like_ this surprise. I much prefer my idea so far.”

“Just trust me,” Finn chuckled, leading the way from their set that the crew wanted to rearrange for the interview and towards the new glass doors that led out to the balcony overlooking the gardens. The same balcony he nearly died on but _details_. “You'll like this one,” he reassured, opening the doors for his Prince and a couple of the photographers.

Poe just grimaced at Finn. “Usually when you say that, it's followed by something an audience wouldn't-”

A few gasps cut off his train of thought. _“That's the Prince! Shhhh!”_ one of them tried and failed to whisper.

Poe, sufficiently distracted by his surprise, walked outside with wide eyes to stand in front of the small crowd of a dozen kids, none of them any older than nine, all dressed in their best and staring back at him with the same expression. Finn and the photographers waited near the door with the few members of the Guard that had been watching the kids until they arrived. Their Prince blinked and, at length, awkwardly waved. “Hi.”

A chorus of, “Hi,” answered back.

After making sure something like this was okay days ago, the interviewers in question had asked Finn what should the Prince do with the kids? Read a book? Play a game? The guard had happily replied with a, “Let's just watch and see what happens.” As if a book would actually get read through with Poe being the one doing it. Like that would be fun enough for him or the kids.

And, just like Finn predicted, one of the boys in the back hurriedly asked, “Is it true you fought the bad guy with a sword in the palace?”

Twelve pairs of eyes stared up at Poe, and Finn couldn't stop grinning if his life depended on it. But the Prince stared back and quickly sobered. “No, actually,” he answered, completely serious, “I fought the bad guy with a sword in the palace while it was _on_ _fire_.”

They all gasped again and another closer to him asked skeptically, “Can you really fly a plane?”

“Jet planes and helicopters, I can.”

She narrowed her little eyes. “How did you learn that if you're always doing Prince stuff?”

“It's called _politics_ , Lola,” another boy spoke up.

Poe just smiled. “My mom taught me when I was little, and I learned more when I got older from guys in the military.”

A low, _“Oooooh,”_ went through them. “Are you in the military, too?” “Did your mom teach you how to sword fight?” “Do you know any princesses?” “What's your favorite video game?”

“This is much better than a damn book,” the older photographer muttered from Finn's elbow, tinkering with his camera and presumably taking pictures. “You know,” he began, not looking away but it seemed he was wanting to start a conversation anyway, “this isn't exactly what I expected when they told me I had to come photograph the Prince.”

Finn smirked again, watching as Poe sat down on the tiled floor, evidently about to get into a story. “I know he's, uh... not being as professional as he could be.”

“No, no.” The photographer shook his head. “It's not that. I kind of like his grumpy attitude, actually. In fact, I think the difference is that he's happier.”

Happier? “What do you mean?”

“Well, sometimes he's the Prince, like when you two walked along the memorial, and other times he's-...” The older man straightened up and waved at the scene before them, of Poe gesturing wildly about some story involving elephants and a festival in a foreign country. “Excuse me for saying, but other times he's just _Poe_. Seems happier that way.”

Finn didn't make a comment to that. He just nodded and turned back to watching his Prince spread his arms as wide as he could to apparently exaggerate something he was telling them. _See?_ He wanted to walk over there and tell him so badly. _They love you. They still love you._ _I told you._

* * *

Poe had his good days and bad days. So far, miraculously, this had been a good day. Even after Finn reluctantly admitted that the kids were orphans from the fighting, his Prince had just smiled and thanked him for letting them come to the palace for the day, letting them have this memory. Still, this was no doubt tiring, and Finn was more than ready to get the interviews over with so he could usher everybody out the door. He knew it wouldn't be an overload – he planned ahead so it wouldn't be – but if he didn't worry so much then he probably wouldn't have a job.

He stood against the wall behind the interviewer as she and Poe both sat facing each other. Every now and then, he'd catch his Prince's eyes and knew he picked the right place. He was afraid of being out of Poe's line of sight in case he was needed, not that there had been any muted episodes in over a month.

“So, your Highness,” the reporter, Maria, began with a nervous smile, “again, it's an honor to be allowed this interview. We thank you so much for the opportunity.”

Poe smiled, showing every single one of his perfect teeth. “Trust me, the honor's all mine.”

Finn rolled his eyes to the ceiling as Maria giggled. That damn flirt. “Thank you,” she blushed, then suddenly turned more professional, “Um- I'd like to start out with getting to what everyone's been wondering. Before the chaos that the First Order brought with them, you were occasionally spotted in public at random intervals to anyone who noticed. But since the memorial, no one's seen you until recently. I'm sure you've been more than busy, but I was wondering if we could get a glimpse at everything that's going on.”

He smiled again, a little less bright and a little more fake than before, but answered truthfully. “There's actually several reasons. First, you're right, the Queen and myself have been insanely busy since the attacks. It's not just rebuilding infrastructure, but so many lives and families were torn away in the invasion. Then there's anything that the First Order may have found while they were interned in our palace, the massive hit to the economy, reinforcing old allegiances, things like that. Otherwise, since these attacks initially began as hits on my life, the Royal Guard has kept me on proverbial lock down for awhile just in case. Then, of course, there were people I personally lost in the attacks. Like the rest of the citizens, I wanted time to myself to mourn them, though I hardly had a moment alone what with being so busy.” Well, mostly truthful.

“Of course,” Maria smiled sadly, “and I'm sorry for your loss.”

He nodded politely. “We all lost something during the attacks.”

With a more pained smile, she nodded and continued, “There were many witness of the palace's fire. How has rebuilding been going? And, if at all possible, we were wondering what could have started such a massive fire in the first place. Were they trying to destroy the palace?”

Poe _very nearly_ laughed, the bastard, but caught himself. “Um, well, repairs have gone great. I'll be honest, I haven't seen much of what they managed to put back together, but the exterior looks like it was never even touched. As far as what caused it-” He glanced at Finn. Finn glanced at the wall. “-a member of my personal guard blew the kitchens as a way of distraction. Apparently, the First Order had caught rumor that I was in the palace, and it was my guard's way of making sure they couldn't find me during the chaos.”

“I see...” She didn't turn around, but her tone of voice seemed like she knew enough. “Well, in that same vein, what made you go into the attack yourself? Not that we're ungrateful, but your guards seem very intent on keeping you alive.”

“The attack was my idea,” he said with a humble smile. “It was mine to lead and coordinate, which was much easier to do in the field. Plus, we didn't have much in the way of air support even with our allies helping us. Every man and woman mattered in the fight, and I wasn't about to let them go on their own while I stayed back.”

“But didn't your jet get shot down? That's the rumor at least.”

“It's true. I did.” He shifted in place, and Finn stood a little straighter, ready to put an end to this if needed. “A couple of civilians helped me from the wreckage, then I headed to the palace as soon as I could. I'll admit, once I made it back here, a lot of the fighting was done.”

“But the rumored sword fight-?”

Poe laughed, bless him. “No, no. That's true. I won the fight, but he got away in the end. During the fire, half of the place was collapsing, and a support beam fell between us before it was over. I was sure he didn't survive the collapse, actually, but there was no body to be found after the fact.”

It was like it wasn't even his Prince that was talking. Just an out of body voice set to autopilot, answering with only facts with no light in his eyes. Finn was hardly able to take a step forward before Poe lifted two fingers, signaling him to stay still.

“Well,” the reporter smiled, “there is one other rumor I wanted to touch on with you. They're saying that you plan to take the throne soon. Is there any truth to that or any comments?”

Again, he smiled, but it was more relaxed this time. Finn moved back to his place, simply watching. “There's been talk,” Poe admitted. “Leia and myself have discussed it for years since I've come of age. Honestly, she's always done a great job. I felt like me taking the throne at the time would have just been rocking the boat or trying to fix a situation that wasn't broken to begin with. For the most part, those things have stayed the same in the last few months, but there's no denying that I was the primary target for the First Order, not the Queen. After taking back the city and everything that's happened since, we've been discussing it more and more. I am of age, and I am the rightful heir. The Queen has been in place simply because of my own choice, despite the fact that she has done and will always do an excellent job. When I take the throne, it'll be on mutual terms between us. There's just been a bit more pressure lately for a change in leadership, one that neither of us ever saw coming.”

“Pressure from where?” the reporter instantly asked. “The enemy?”

“It seems like everywhere at times,” he sighed. “When I take the throne, it'll be my own decision and only for the betterment of the people. That's what matters most, after all.”

Maria gave another polite smile, finally relaxing a little bit. “I'm sure we'll all be well aware when that day comes. What about something in the near future? Before the first attack, you were all over the world meeting with different political leaders.”

“And I hope to be doing the same again, though not anytime soon,” Poe nodded. “There's a lot to handle at home first before I can get back into that routine. That said, with everything finally winding down a little, I'll be presenting an audience with the people in a few days time, which has already been announced. It's going to last for _hours_ , could probably last several days if my guards allowed, but I think it'll be good to see people face to face under less harsh circumstances. And there's something else coming up soon, but nothing's been finalized so I hate to announce it here in case nothing comes of it. The Queen will let everyone know shortly if it does become a thing.”

“A good thing, I hope?”

“An... _exciting_ thing depending on how you look at it,” Poe chuckled. “But yes, it should be a good thing.”

“Fantastic,” she giggled, catching his laugh like an infection. “And I know you're busy so we'll cut this short, but there _was_ one little rumor going around after the memorial about things in your romantic life-”

Poe started laughing before she could finish but he caught himself and shook his head. “Yeah, no, I heard about that,” he answered, straightening up in his seat with a big grin. “The woman who was with me at the memorial – the one in the wheelchair – is an old friend of mine, Jess. She acted as one of the air squadron commanders during the battle and, like me, she had been shot down. She's out of the wheelchair now, though, doing much better. And no, we _aren't_ involved, but those articles definitely gave her something to tease me over for the last few months.”

“I like her already,” Maria commented, but quickly switched gears. Finn was biting his cheek before it even happened. “So you aren't involved with anyone currently?”

There were so many directions this could go in. Poe could easily tell her no and be done with it, but nothing ever went so smoothly with him. He could tell her that he is with someone and allow everyone to speculate since he definitely wasn't going to say _who_. He could turn the question around, remind her that his dating life isn't as important right now compared to everything else. His Prince glanced up to him, and Finn shook his head. _Tell her no, you dumbass. Tell her no._

“I think I'll skip that one,” Poe said instead, which was basically just as bad as telling her the truth. “Actually, don't even put that in there, please.”

Poor Maria looked shocked and a little hurt. “Oh... Your Highness, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry.”

“It's your job to pry,” his Prince laughed, proving that there were certainly no hard feelings. “It's okay, really. I know people are curious and I understand why. I'd just rather not say anything right now.”

“That's completely understandable,” she said with a happy nod.

The guard let out a held breath.

* * *

“You did good,” Finn told him once the last person was filed out.

In reality, it didn't actually last that long. A few hours, certainly, but Poe felt like he'd been doing physical labor since sunrise. Physical labor that he kept fucking up. “Did I?”

“Yes,” his love answered immediately, sitting beside him on the white and gold embroidered sofa, wrapping an arm around Poe's waist that he desperately leaned in to. Finn placed a kiss in his hair. “You did so good today.”

He still wasn't that sure, but one step at a time felt much better than no movement at all. It at least felt like he'd accomplished something that day, more so than any other. “Thanks for bringing those kids over. I know they enjoyed it.”

“Did _you_ enjoy it?” Finn asked, squeezing him tighter around the waist.

Poe couldn't help but smile. “Yeah, I did. So many ridiculous questions. They meet a Prince and start asking about games and dogs. Freakin' adorable. But you know how much I like kids. You're trying to play me over here.”

“Of course. Keeping you spoiled is hard work.”

He snorted less than gracefully at that, but bit his lip and thought back on the day. It had gone okay, honestly. But it felt like things needed to be better than that. Like he had a perfectly good chance to prove himself for _something_ and failed. “I hated those pictures.”

“I know,” his love muttered, kissing him on the temple almost apologetically, “but you're so handsome, everyone wants to see you.”

Poe smiled, blushing, burying his face against Finn's shirt. “I told you, it's just the jawline. If I grew a beard-”

“It'd be a sexy beard. Shut up.” Another kiss fell in his hair.

As much as he couldn't stop smiling at the comfort, he knew Finn's ways now. He was comforting him because he was worried or- “Are you upset?”

His love stopped rubbing his arm, an action he only noticed once it was gone. “Why would I be-?”

“The relationship thing,” Poe quickly clarified. “I didn't want to lie to her, but we haven't come out with-”

“Poe, shhh.” The rubbing on his arm started again, a little firmer than before, a couple of more kisses peppering against him. “I'm not upset. It's okay. If we come out with this, we'll prepare for it first. But I... am kind of happy you didn't take my advice and lie. Selfishly happy but-... You know you shouldn't do that, though. Especially not for me. I'm okay where I am.”

“It's not just for you,” Poe sighed, sitting up straighter to look him in the eyes. “I love you, Finn. I don't like people not knowing how much.”

His love stared back at him for a moment with those dark, warm eyes. At length, he finally leaned forward and pressed another kiss to the Prince's forehead. “We'll release a sex tape when we come out with it.”

It took a second, but a peel of laughter suddenly escaped Poe, swatting at Finn's knee. “I'm being serious!”

“You've been _too_ serious lately,” his love smirked, but sighed and rested his head against Poe's. “Speaking of, though, the Queen wants your opinion on some stuff tomorrow around mid-day. Don't quote me, but I bet it's about that damn party.”

“It's a _ball_ , Finn.”

“I personally call it Security's Worst Nightmare.”

“If it does miraculously happen, I'll be drunk the whole time, so you don't have to worry.”

“Funny.” His love let out a sigh, letting his eyes close. “Poe?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's back!!
> 
> Not the action packed beginning like we had from the last one. This chapter's more of a catch-up, I suppose, but we'll be getting ball's deep in the bullshit soon enough, fam. To clarify, Poe's been having a load of mental health issues since the end of the last story, but we'll touch on those as they come, especially next chapter. Also, just to let you know, I'm going to try to have way more of Rey in this one! The girl is amazing and deserves so much more than a very short fight with Darth Maul. And you read the tags right. I'm trying for some Rey/Jess in here. We'll see what happens.
> 
> Anywho, thank you all for joining me in this fic! I think it'll be way more emotional than the last one.
> 
> True to form, I've got a promo for this fic on [tumblr](http://linatrinch.tumblr.com/post/145186641424/sequel-to-doubt-thou-the-stars-are-fire-two-months).


	2. Chapter 2

Poe had his good days and bad days. His good days were okay, but the bad days- Some were just better than others. But it was frustrating for Finn. He could do all of the comforting in the world, knowing exactly what was needed of him, but understood full well that he couldn't _stop_ it. There was no instant fix for this sort of thing. And it had been two months since everything that had happened, but it was _only_ two months. Maybe it was a lifetime for some people, but the burn wounds across his shoulders certainly still felt fresh.

In the weeks that followed, his Prince was an absolute mess. Sometimes he'd stare off into the distance and could probably be stuck that way for hours without someone to drag him back. Then there was that one panic attack and everything just kind of got worse for a little while. It was like as time went on, Poe just hurt more and more. Eventually it leveled off and then finally started to settle. Poe had made himself busy, attempting to dive right back into his work which was made way more difficult than it ever had been considering the on-going crisis.

But Finn let him work as much as he needed to and provided distractions when necessary. Their fights over the insomnia were always tense and sharp but quick and ineffective at the same time; Poe being too exhausted to even work up that much of a passion to argue.

Time went on and things got a little better and a little better, but there were still good days and bad days. Finn could already tell that today was probably going to be a bad day.

“Hey,” he gently greeted, leaning against the chair and letting his fingers run through his Prince's hair, “you want some breakfast?”

Poe hummed, fluttering his eyes closed, either pretending to think about food or just enjoying the touch. “Not really hungry right now.” His legs and arms were tucked into the chair like a ball, as he sat in front of a large window overlooking the grounds.

“How long you been awake?”

His Prince grimaced then shrugged. “Not sure. You missed the sunrise though.” Which, in all honesty, would have been odd for Finn if he had actually slept through it. Once he woke up alone (again), he had decided to give Poe a little space before looking for him. “And before you say anything, I did sleep some.”

“I know you did.” Finn was never the first to fall asleep no matter how long it took.

Poe smiled a little. “Are you going anywhere right now?”

“Nope.”

There was a hum of approval before his Prince stood and started tugging him forward. He had expected a kiss and a little groping, actually, but wasn't all that surprised when he found himself falling back into the chair with Poe climbing in on top of him. His legs fell across Finn's lap, his head resting against his chest and shoulder, then Poe wiggled a little to find a good spot. “Comfy?”

“I'm good,” Finn chuckled, his hand going back in Poe's hair. The chair certainly wasn't built for two but it wasn't terribly uncomfortable yet. Currently, he could still feel all of his limbs. His other arm wrapped around Poe's waist, tugging him closer. Really though, his Prince shouldn't feel so light and thin. “You might miss out on those waffles though if cuddling was your idea.”

“You didn't mention waffles,” Poe pouted but just sunk closer to him. “We'll go soon in that case. What's the agenda today?”

“Leia,” Finn sighed, “Probably more party talk. And Rey wanted to talk to you later today, too. Said it couldn't wait.”

His Prince gave a more serious frown. “You know what it's about?”

“No, but I don't think it's something... y'know, _crucial_. But you might as well meet with her when you have the chance. She'll track you down otherwise.”

“I'll find her,” Poe promised. “One of us will go find her at some point. She's so busy lately.”

“Busy job,” Finn sighed, grateful that he wasn't doing all of that right now. It was too much to lead the Guard and look after Poe, so he had delegated it to a few of his most trusted people, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Rey ran the show. “She likes it, though.”

Poe hummed again, staying silent for just a moment. “I want to talk to you about something. Off the record.”

_Off the record_ meant they were no longer working. Like any of it ever actually felt like work instead of just life. Finn smirked anyway. “Yes, your Highness?”

“I'm still being serious,” Poe chuckled, swatting at him. “I was just thinking about... everything going on lately. This ball thing and everyone talking about a coronation and that interview yesterday and delegates that want to meet with me _post haste_ – who even uses that word anymore?” The Prince shook his head, though not enough to make Finn's hand leave his hair. “Sorry. Right. Anyway. I was thinking that, maybe, sometimes, I'd like to not be so-... I mean everything's just so much right now. I don't know how to ask this.”

Finn held him a little tighter. “You need a vacation.”

“A _vacation_?”

“Yes. You need to get away from all of this, Poe. Just for a little while.”

“No, I don't want-” His Prince sighed. “I can't afford to do something like that right now. What are the people going to think? The country's in a post-war stasis so the Prince decides to take a cruise to his private fucking island? C'mon.”

Despite the protests, Finn was a little adamant about this. After all, he'd been thinking it for weeks. “It's for your health, Poe. Let people think what they want. You need a break. Whether it's a private fucking island or a motel in the middle of nowhere, you need to get out of here and have space to think.”

“I _can't_ ,” Poe muttered. There were more arguments right on the tip of Finn's tongue, but the other continued before he could get on a roll. “Besides, that's not what I wanted to talk about... Or well, it kind of is but in a different way.”

A different way? Finn waited with a little confused frown. “... Go on.”

His Prince licked his lips and started fiddling with the other man's hand. “I was thinking that... everything's a lot right now, and I could use a- a _mini-_ vacation. Like just something where I don't have to do anything, where I don't have to be the one making the decisions. Where I... let someone else take control for a little while.” On his last few words, Poe looked up to him hopefully.

Finn just frowned back. He was about to mention Leia, but surely Poe wasn't talking about _Leia_. If he had been then he would have just said it like a normal human being. So he went over the little speech again, staring down at Poe, when it suddenly and shockingly clicked. “Oh- Oh! Oh, you mean- Are you talking about domination stuff?”

“The other way around actually.”

This was a new conversation. Their sex life over the last couple of months had been... _fun_ , certainly nothing to complain over, though there was an obvious lack of time for anything between both of their schedules, not to mention Poe's depression taking a much higher precedence over any of that. It was _great_ , it had been great, and they had talked about stuff before. But it never really got too adventurous which was fine for the both of them. After all, it was still just two months. Definitely a whirlwind of desire, but there were other things going on.

_This_ , though. _This_ was very much a brand new conversation. “I never did that before.”

“Me either,” Poe shrugged. “If you don't wanna try, that's okay. I just wanted to bring it up.”

Finn was willing to try anything – okay, _almost_ anything. “This is just a little sudden is all. What brought it on?” If it was a kink thing, Poe hadn't mentioned it before.

“I don't know,” his Prince admitted, leaning heavily against his chest. “It's not even that it sounds hot. But it does, it _definitely_ does. I just... think that it sounds nice. I trust you, and you've been taking care of me for awhile. To give in to that trust so completely like that- I feel like I could use it. This is strictly a suggestion, though. It'll probably get intense, so it's up to you.”

Honestly, Finn didn't mind. It did sound hot to have Poe all to himself like that. But he _worried_ ; he was nothing if he didn't worry. Would something like that make Poe too dependent on him? There were days when Finn wondered if they'd already crossed that line, but he definitely didn't want to make it any worse. His job, at the heart of it, was dangerous. They were already playing with fire just by being together like this.

As if they'd ever _stay_ like this.

“If we do it,” Finn spoke up eventually, “then we'll do it right. We need to have a long talk about it, figure out safe words, all of that. And if I'm going to dom, then I have to do my research.”

“I love you,” Poe murmured against his shirt.

The other smiled and leaned down to place a kiss to his Prince's hair. “All that's for later. You have waffles to eat, your Highness.”

Poe groaned and wiggled from Finn's fingers poking him in the neck, but eventually crawled off of his lap with a little giggle.

* * *

“Is this about the ball?”

“Why on Earth would you think that?” Leia asked, flipping through one of the many books stacked on her desk filled with color swatches and flower samples. “I'm thinking blue and gray. Something nice but not showy.”

Finn huffed a laugh from behind before going silent again. Damn him. All he had to worry about was security while Leia roped him into _decorations_. “Did you really call me in here to pick the color?”

“No,” she said, looking up from her scrapbooks, “but your opinion certainly wouldn't hurt since you seem to have so many of them.”

Poe rubbed at his eyes. “What kind of blue?”

“What?”

“What kind of blue? Royal blue? Navy blue? There's a million different blues.”

“Light blue. Like a sky blue and a metallic gray sort of thing.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

“Thank you. Rey said yellows. I'm not doing yellows.”

“Great. Color's picked.” Poe clapped his hands together and fell into the nearest chair. “Now, _please_ tell me what you actually wanted.”

Leia sighed, tossing her book to the side and straightening up. “Well, the ball is officially going to happen. I've told Rey. She's getting her side prepared, and I've allowed her to come up with the date. It shouldn't be more than two weeks away, if that. Meanwhile, I've been working on a guest list that I want you to look over.”

“It looks fine.”

“I haven't given it to you.”

“I'm sure it looks great.”

Predictably, she groaned and walked over to him, handing him a pad of paper. “I've been writing them down for now. We'll have more coming, especially local nobles, but these are the ones you'll have no choice but to talk to.”

Great. Poe grimaced and took the list, glancing over it. Lando, of course, was at the top of the list. Mace Windu's name appeared, and he held back a groan. That man was ridiculously condescending. He held back another groan when he found the names of the Hutt clan. Disgusting people. _Powerful_ but disgusting. Terex was ridiculous but negotiable. His son, however- He and Poe might have had a no-strings-attached thing whenever they could meet up which was definitely over now. Poe wasn't looking forward to that awkward discussion. He kept looking over the list, recognizing most of the names but not all of them. In fact, he was about to ask who those other people actually were, when one particular name on the list jumped out at him.

“L'ulo!” Poe nearly leaped out of the chair. “You're inviting L'ulo? Will he come?”

Leia nodded with a smile. “I spoke to him this morning. He'll definitely be here. Told me he had been planning on visiting anyway. He's been worried about you.”

“I haven't seen him in years,” he laughed, glancing back at the name then quickly turning to Finn. “He was best friends with my mother during the war. He flew with her. But he lives so far away that we'd always just do a video conference if we had to talk. He hasn't been here since that party for Leia's birthday!”

Finn looked surprised for a moment until a big smile graced his face, one of those smiles that was honest and happy. Poe smiled back just as wide.

Leia folded her arms. “You've seen him since then.”

“I know,” he sighed, turning back to her. “I'm still so excited, though.”

She smiled at him, then suddenly glanced over to Finn. “I'm sorry. Can you leave us for a moment? I'd like to talk to him in private.”

Both men were a little shocked at that, but they exchanged a glance before Finn dutifully nodded and walked out the door, closing it tightly behind him. In fact, Poe wasn't all the worried when he turned back to Leia. “We should do it.”

She sighed again. “You're not back on that tear, are you?”

“He deserves it.”

“Of course, he deserves a title. I told you that he should have been knighted ages ago.”

Poe frowned, tossing the list back on the desk. “Well, I was thinking more like a _Lord_ than a Knight.”

“I know what you were thinking,” she said, her shoulders being weighed down with the words alone. She pushed away from the desk, taking a place in the seat next to him. “I didn't send him away to talk about titles, Poe.” He just looked back at her and waited until Leia continued. “With your coronation now being seriously considered, we need to begin thinking long term. When you become King, you'll need an heir.”

He glanced to the door then back to Leia, disliking where this was going but knew for sure that it wasn't going _there_. “That's obvious. What the hell are you suggesting?”

She frowned, apparently hoping he would have caught on. “This ball isn't just about making stronger ties with our allies. They all know that you're considering the throne sooner than expected, they know how old you are. There'll be more than a dozen suitors for you-”

“ _Suitors!?”_ At that, Poe actually did rise from his chair. “Leia, what the fuck?”

Instead of being put off by the outburst, she just looked a little disappointed by it. “You'll need an heir, which means you'll need a wife.”

“A _wife!?_ ” What? What? This was happening so fast, all of it just tumbling on at once. Poe could hardly wrap his mind around what was being asked of him. More than despair or hopelessness, anger shot through him like a bullet. “Leia, I know we haven't outright told you anything, but I'm with _Finn_!”

“I know you are, Poe,” she told him softly, sadly, almost apologetically, “but he's not a nobleman. Even if he was, he's not a woman.”

“Who _cares!?_ ” He could scream. He could pull his hair out. She couldn't take Finn away. No one could take him. “I'm with _Finn!_ I love _Finn!_ Even if I didn't, even if it all tanked tomorrow, I'm _gay!_ I'm super fucking gay, all right? I said it! I'm gay!”

“Poe Dameron, your favorite hobby when you were twelve was bedazzling. I'm well aware that you're gay.”

“ _Then what the fuck are you-”_

“It's not _me_ ,” she said at last. “It's the crown. If you become King, which you will either way, you'll _need_ an heir. A proper heir.”

“A proper-” This was almost hilarious, Poe thought as he leaned against the wall, trying to force back tears from being too overwhelmed so suddenly. “Leia, I was born out of wedlock to former soldiers who fought in _Luke's_ war. There is nothing _proper_ about me.”

She shook her head. “The people don't know that. And during all of the confusion, they didn't care _how_ you were born. They were just grateful you were here at all.”

_I'm not Luke's son._ God, he'd love to scream that across every airway, pay someone to write it across the sky, rent out every advertising space he could find. _I'm not Luke's son!_ _I'm Kes' son! Kes Dameron! I'm Kes Dameron's son!_

He hid his face behind his hands, and Leia continued. “You think you'll be the first gay king? Or even the first king with an affair, for that matter?”

“An _affair-”_ The word choked him. Poe shook his head, removing himself from hiding to look at the ceiling. “I'm not doing that to him. I'm not doing any of this. It's not fair. It's not right.”

“No, it's not,” Leia sighed, agreeing, “but we sacrifice so that our people don't have to. If we work this right, we can make generations worth of alliances and the strongest military force we've ever had. When it comes to us, things like this are very rarely about who we love. You had to have known since you were young that this would happen.”

“That was before Finn,” he whispered. Alliances. Armies. Heirs. Crowns. Luke was right to leave. If Poe knew where he was, he'd beat the hell out of him every day just on principle. This wasn't his life. This was never supposed to be his life. “I'm not doing it,” he told her again, leaning off of the wall and beginning to walk away without looking back to her. Thankfully, she made no move to stop or follow him. All he wanted was to get away from this.

When something tugged back hard on his elbow, making him falter and nearly trip, he was already more than halfway to the Grand Staircase. Hands wrapped around his arms, and Finn was suddenly in front of him. But Poe couldn't make himself look at his face so instead just stared down at the other man's chest.

“Are you all right?” Finn asked quietly, firmly, but no one seemed to be around right now. “What happened? Poe, what did she tell you?”

He didn't want to explain it. He didn't want to think about it. Poe closed his eyes tight and leaned closer until his head rested on Finn's shoulder, loosely wrapping his arms around his love's waist. Finn paused, but slowly did the same, one hand splaying over his back and the other finding the back of his head. _This_ was where he belonged. This was exactly where he was meant to be, where he always wanted to be. He melted into the embrace, closing his eyes and letting himself go in the comfort of being so close. After a moment, he noticed Finn tighten his grip, burying his face against Poe's neck, almost as if he already knew.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that took forever. I'm going to really shoot for faster updates.
> 
> But now we're getting into some of the plot for this so yay. I think a few of you saw this coming a long time ago. But anyway! Thanks for those comments and everything, folks! Again, I'll try to be way faster than this.


	3. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a A/N announcement for everybody.

I think I'd like to start out by apologizing to everyone that was looking forward to this fic, but it's going to be discontinued indefinitely.

Okay, the thing is that I've met a lot of people in the Star Wars fandom since VII came out. Made a lot of good friends through this medium. I met one of these friends through fanfiction. I was reading one of hers and she was reading  _Doubt Thou The Stars Are Fire_. It got to the point that we had the bright idea to skype call each other when we updated to hear our reactions. This moved on to Friday movie night (either watching one of our faves, something with a star from VII in it, or a Disney movie that we turned into a Stormpilot AU and giggled at Poe trying to woo the Princess Finn on a flying carpet). This led to us sharing numbers. I mean, we even worked in the same field. She did her first cosplay (herself as Poe, her husband as Kylo Ren) and got her husband to win the cosplay contest at their local con. We started making notes on a collab fic. Started putting together things for a Star Wars podcast. Etc, etc. A day didn't go by that we weren't texting each other. If you'd recall for my older readers, this was the friend I almost left the fandom over because she was receiving death threats on Tumblr. She's also the person who urged me to continue this story. I finished  _Doubt Thou_ with her and decided to make it into a series even though it wasn't ENTIRELY needed. I added things to the ending of part one so that there would be loose ends to still tie up.

Since we always waited for each other to update so that we could read together, I was updating on a pretty regular and scheduled basis. But a couple of months ago, she started complaining of pain. Doctors didn't take her seriously, assuming she was drug seeking. After about a month in a half of ER visits, doctor appointments that went no where, long drives to bigger cities that ended up being pointless, and the pain slowly getting worse and worse, a hospital finally listened to her and kept her in. When she first went into the hospital is when I stopped updating. She had read chapter one but hadn't gotten around to chapter two, and I didn't want the plot to take off without her. She couldn't work, obviously, and was stressing about money. Myself and a few of her relatives eventually convinced her to set up a gofundme account for expenses and such. The doctors decided to do a surgery later but they couldn't do it at that moment due to something up with her lungs, so they sent her home with meds. That Saturday we watched the Lion King. Finn was Simba. That Monday, at the urging of her husband and parents, she went back into the hospital. That Friday, July 8th, she passed away.

I know she'd want me to continue, but I don't feel comfortable doing this without her. I barely feel comfortable doing anything Star Wars related without her, but I keep at it because she didn't think of death as a sort of abrupt ending or even a sad goodbye. She told me once that death was a beautiful and inevitable part of life that shouldn't be depressing like so many people make it. I was reminded of this when her mother mentioned that they don't do funerals but parties, like a celebration of her life instead of dwelling on the death. So I'm still more than in the fandom, as you guys have seen. One day I'd love to come back to this and finish it in her memory, but I just don't feel right doing it without her.

I'm saying this now, because it took me awhile to decide what to do with this fic. Then it took even longer to decide if I should let you guys know or not. It's still getting reviews, so I figured that I probably should. And everyone should know why regardless, because she was  _such_ a big influence on my ridiculously popular fic, and you have all been absolutely amazing to this story. 

I'm still doing prompts on Tumblr. I'm still doing oneshot ideas that pop into my head. I'm currently wanting to start on another multi-chap AU fic, but I can't decide what theme to go with right now. Most of all, I'm just focusing on grad school, moving house, and taking everything easy. I miss her. I miss her so much. Right now, I just can't do this without her, even if she would probably be more disappointed in reading this than all of you combined.

Again, I'm sorry for starting this and giving even a few of you guys a little hype. I hope you understand, and thanks for enjoying the fics. (If the whole story ending thing really bothers you, just assume that it ends at part one lol.) And like I said, I may come back to it someday.

Thanks.


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